Preview of the 2024-25 18ft Skiff Season
by Frank Quealey 15 Oct 19:52 PDT
The 91st consecutive season of 18ft skiff racing organized by the Australian 18 Footers League will kick off next Sunday (20 October) with Race 1 of the six-race Sixt Spring Championship.
With an anticipated fleet of seventeen top 18 footer teams expected to join the racing, the Sixt Spring Championship will be an exciting showcase for fans, while also allowing younger and newer teams to prepare for the upcoming major championships.
Key events of the 2024-25 summer season include the League’s 90th-anniversary celebrations, taking place over three days from Friday, 31 January to Sunday, 2 February, the return of the Australian Championship to Brisbane after 35 years, and the 76th J.J. Giltinan World Championship on Sydney Harbour from 8-16 March 2025.
The season promises thrilling local, interstate, and international racing for all 18 footer competitors and their fans.
The season-opening Sixt Sprint series will feature last season’s champion team of Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli, and Matt Doyle, who will defend their title in the Sixt-sponsored skiff after transitioning from their previous boat, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines.
Yandoo, last year’s runner-up and current JJ Giltinan world champion, will have experienced sailors John ‘Woody’ Winning, Fang Warren, and Lewis Brake on board as they aim to improve on their 2023 performance.
Sixt and Yandoo will face competition from three of last year’s top-5 teams: Balmain (Henry Larkings), Smeg (Nathan McNamara), and Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Emma Rankin), as well as top-10 teams Finport Finance (Keagan York), Burrawang-Young Henrys (Simon Nearn), and Vaikobi (Kirk Mitchell).
Alex Marinelli, Sixt team manager, is eager to embrace the upcoming season and the challenge of defending last year’s title won in The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines.
“We are excited to take on the challenge of defending our title but will be without our skipper Jacob Marks for Race 1 as he is currently focused on his HSC exams in college.”
“The team collaborated effectively last season, and maintaining the same lineup for 2024-25 is crucial as we aim for better results at all championships.”
“We are enthusiastic about partnering with our new sponsor, Sixt, and achieving the best possible outcomes for them.”
This season, The Kitchen Maker team, consisting of Lachlan Steel, Jerome Watts, and Darcy McCracken, will debut a new hull. Steel has been competing in the 18s for four seasons, and this new boat will offer his team their best chance for success.
Additionally, this marks the fourteenth consecutive year of sponsorship collaboration between the McKavanagh family’s The Kitchen Maker and the Australian 18 Footers League.
The eight-race NSW Championship, scheduled from 1-22 December, will follow the Sixt Spring Championship series before the races on Sydney Harbour enter a three-week pause for Christmas and New Year.
The return of major 18 footer championship racing to Brisbane for the Australian Championship on 18-20 January is a significant achievement for the northern state and a well-deserved acknowledgment of Dave Hayter’s team’s performance in recent JJ Giltinan world championship regattas on Sydney Harbour.
The League’s 90th-anniversary celebrations will feature a ‘Super Sprint Series’ for the Balmain Cup, a ‘Skiff Sydney Harbour Marathon,’ and the ‘Queen of the Waves’ race, which will conclude the celebrations on Sunday, 2 February.
Following the recent victory of the German Black Knight at the international regatta in Lake Garda, Italy, their return to Sydney for the 2025 JJ Giltinan Championship is set to deliver an excellent climax to an exhilarating season of high-speed, high-tech 18ft skiff racing.
The Australian 18 Footers League’s spectator ferry will be available throughout the entire season, following the races as it has for the club’s 90-year history, departing from Double Bay Public Wharf at 2pm next Sunday. Don’t miss it!
For those unable to board the ferry, catch Sunday’s Livestream for Spring Championship Race 1 here:
